More User Reviews:

Obviously a little late in the season to try this beer but it was part of the mixed six pack I bought over the weekend in MI.Poured a a jet black with a large two finger craterous mocha colored head leaving spotty lace behind as it settled.Roasty with a drying earthy presence in the nose with lighter tones of unsweetened chocolate and nut.The bottle says a sweet stout but I find it to be quite dry and roasty with big earthy notes and underlying chocolate and dark fruit in the finish.Goes down very easy maybe to easy,a decent English style stout here.

Ok as I drank more and it came to room temp the sweetness and raisiny flavors came out to make for a sweeter but balanced stout,much better.

Appearance is an inky brown-black with no noticeable hues if you hold it up to the light. A frothy brown head lingers for a considerable time then dissipates. Aroma is of toast, smoke, dark roasted malts and an unusual flowery hop. Campfire smoke and roasted dark malts hit you up front in the taste with that same flowery hop lingering around as well as hints of chocolate and toast. Fairly restrained hop bitterness, could use a bit more to balance some of the sweetness. Medium full mouthfeel carries these nice flavors with a slightly sweet finish. Carbonation is spot-on for an English stout which is restrained. Overall, a nice example of English stout leaning towards Scottish roots with some of the smokiness and restrained hops. This is a brew to discuss over its complexity. Thanks Schell's!

Nice to see the deer antler tap handle of an August Schell beer in the Burgh, this may be the first I ever recall seeing. I've been drinking the bottles since Vecenie has been carrying them, but this is was the first draft I've seen at Bocktown. Appears pitch black with ruby highlights and a massive mocha tan head. Aromatics fill my senses with dark coffee and roasted malts give a bit of chocolate off as well. Herbal earthy hops fill the back end up and a nice air of underlying fruitiness works it's magic as well. Such a nice mix of flavors going on here. A solid classic stout, I'm surprised this brew doesn't get more love. Big roasted malt layers of chocolate with mild roasted coffee bitterness, again deep plum or raisin note peeks through and some earthy herbal hop doses come through just for some balance. Mouthfeel was velvety smooth, carbonation was moderate. Drinkability solid glad I tried the August Schell brew, I hope to see more of their beers on tap in the Burgh.

Inky black bodied with a thin skimming of tan.
Cocoa and anise are the major players, aroma-wise, and possibly the only players, save for a fleeting roasted graininess.
It enters the mouth with a black-liquorice-stained, roasted grain notion. Grain drops out, liquorice stays and is joined with lactose heavy milk chocolate, and a dab of molasses for good measure. It rides this flavor profile for a long time, but a few blades of grassy hops give it some bittering balance around the finish.
Full bodied, on the large and thick side for the style (and the ABV), with a silky, low-carbonated texture. It's hearty, but delicious and thoroughly sessionable. It's a spot on sweet English-styled stout, which I appreciate more given the style's relative rarity. A little weird coming from Schell's, but now I understand why it's entered heavy rotation in their portfolio. Good stuff.

Whoa! I was quite surprised when I poured this out and found it to be dark as coal! The body is almost black but still retains some brown to it, and the head is a creamy deep-oak. Head retention could be better, and the lacing is only average.

The nose is lightly roasty with a nutty edge.

In the mouth it's medium with a dextrinous side, and it foams as it warms to become pillowy soft (but it's more of a polyester, than cottony or down pillow).

The flavor expresses a combination of rich, roasty coffee; deeply caramelized, almost burnt sugar; and soft milk chocolate at the outset. As it warms, more cocoa and light caramel flavors appear. There's an honest smear of milk chocolate across the middle; and a smattering of grassy, leafy, and floral hops appear towards the finish. It ends up dry and just slightly acidic from the dark malts, with a crisp crust of burnt sugar left behind. The restrained bitterness is perfect given the dark malt acidity and bitterness, and I found this very nicely balanced and drinkable. Very well done and well worth trying.

Picked up a single from Princetons in Maple Grove. Poured pitch black with a tall tan head. There's a big toasty aroma with toffee covered chocolate. The burnt edge is softened with the sweet cocoa. There's a mild hop finish to balance out the thick body. Overall, a fine, balanced example of the style.

I poured this from a bottle to a glass where very little, but very thick head (that's what she said) formed. I held the glass between my eye and the sun and no light passed through, stout, indeed! It smells like a chocolate coffee roast, with a touch of sweet raisin. The taste matches the smell. The first taste is chocolate and the residual is coffee. Delicious! There is more carbonation than I am used to from a stout, but the bite is refreshing and by no means ruins the taste. I could have several of these in a sitting, but I like to keep them around to enjoy the whole week.

A: dark as night, thin,tan head. Minimal to no lacing.
S: smokey, malty and hints of chocolate.
T: sweet at the start but fades into some dark chocolate bitterness and a hoppier than expected finish. The smoke is there at the end as well.
M: slighty syrupy, medium body. High carbonation which surprised me. Bitter finish.
O: made to drink in large quantities. Not going to win any awards, but it's a good value and perhaps a decent intro for newbies to the style.

Pitch black - simple as that! A light brown head that fizzles, then settles into a decent ring. Huge roasty malts, cola and traces of dark roasted coffee beans on the nose. Light caramel and sugary malts appear in the front; a bit of burnt coffee beans as well. Thick and creamy malts form the body; espresso like flavors dominate. Just a touch of hops and vanilla flavorings. Becomes sweet and mildly carbonated. Turns a bit milky-sweet with traces of black licorise. Clean and mild finish, probably the best Snow Storm offering from Schell; a style that changes each year--they hit the target this year! Well worth the effort here.

Came as an extra in a trade... It slips my mind who sent it, but thanks for the local stout! Poured from a 12oz bottle into a pint glass while Wilson Picket "Brings it all Back Home to Me" on Pandora.

A: A sizzle lets out as I top of the pour showing lots of carbonation. Very opaque, a deep dark brown pour is capped with what started as a 2 inch baseball dirt brown and finished as quickly settles down to just a that... a cap.

S: Smell is not to strong, definitely some smoke driven coffee/toffee/chocolate... and I get a slight hint of raisins or prunes. A nice smelling beer, but not knocking my socks off.

T: First taste is very cold... the chocolate is easy to detect so is the coffee, but in a coffee ice cream kind of way (maybe it has to do with the temperature). As it warms the coffee turns more into cocoa and the malts provide a very noticeable and delightful sweetness. Everything is a little bit muted, almost like it starts to take off but doesn't get to the flying height that would make it great. It is good, just not great.

M: moderately light, lot of carbonation, has a nice silky feel in the hopper

D: I drank mine very slowly to let it fall to the right temperature and I really enjoyed it the whole way. I enjoyed the change of aroma's and flavors as it regressed. I could have had another, maybe even two. So yeah, it is pretty drinkable. Not my preferred session beer, but it is cold outside, its dark early and this certainly works.